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Washington, D.C. – Skyscrapers can enhance quality of life for the urban population, says the World Bank, but cities must also prepare for outwards expansion. Whether urban hubs develop horizontally, vertically or in existing space depends on economic demand, according to the new report.

As cities grow around the world, urban planners are faced with new challenges. According to an article from the World Economic Forum and the Thomson Reuters Foundation, which discusses the new World Bank study on the development of liveable cities, while taller buildings can enhance quality of life, building models need to be adapted to local conditions. 

In poor countries about 90 per cent of new buildings are built on the edges of cities, but conversely in rich nations, 35 per cent are built on empty sites within urban centres. This is tied to economic demand, the research found. As incomes grow, so do buildings, with richer cities taking the shape of pyramids, it writes.

While tall cities allow inhabitants more floor space, reduce the distance between workplaces and are better for the environment, they cannot achieve such development with planning regulation alone. “New built central high-rises risk remaining vacant if people cannot afford to live in them,” warned the World Bank researchers, as quoted in the article.

The article continues that for developing cities, it is vital to prepare for horizontal expansion: building transport links and basic infrastructures ensures liveable conditions on the outskirts and lays the foundations for future development, it writes.